Cairo Geniza
A thousand years of papers.
herr müller — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Roland Unger — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Schlanger — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ovedc — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Abdelrahman Farag — CC BY-SA 4.0 · kmf164 — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Faris knight — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ovedc — CC BY-SA 4.0
The oldest synagogue in Cairo, in the Religions Complex of Old Cairo among the Coptic churches, on the site of an old church bought by the Jewish community in the Fatimid era. The present building was rebuilt in the late nineteenth century in the old style. The synagogue became world-famous for the Cairo Geniza, a room where any paper bearing the name of God was stored rather than destroyed; over about a thousand years hundreds of thousands of manuscripts, letters and contracts piled up there, found by scholars in the late nineteenth century and now one of the key sources for daily life in medieval Egypt and the Mediterranean. The interior has marble columns, an inlaid wooden bimah, colourful decoration and chandeliers, and in its garden is a well that tradition links with the place where the infant Moses, peace be upon him, was found. Entry is free, open from nine to four, and photography inside is usually not allowed. Combine it with the Hanging Church, Abu Serga church and the Coptic Museum on one walk.
A thousand years of papers.
Marble columns, bimah.
In the garden.
Religions Complex, Old Cairo, behind the Hanging Church
Coptic MuseumIt holds the largest collection of Coptic antiquities in the world, in the heart1 minute walk
Church of Abu Serga (Saints Sergius and Bacchus)One of the oldest churches in Egypt, the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, k1 minute walk
Hanging ChurchThe best known of Egypt's Coptic churches, called hanging because it was built o1 minute walk4.8
Mosque of Amr ibn al-AsThe first mosque built in Egypt and in Africa, founded by the commander Amr ibn 7 minutes walk
NilometerAn octagonal well sunk at the tip of Rhoda Island, with a graduated marble colum7 minutes walk4.3Photography is usually not allowed inside; you can photograph the facade and garden from outside.